Guest experiences with daily room checks

[Elfinbaby]

We just did a week at BLT and another at BCV.

We were gone so much while staying at BLT, we never noticed anything except for one evening. I had been in the villa with my daughter for much of the day, and Mousekeeping had been vigilant about taking out the trash throughout the stay. So I put the "occupied" sign up. That evening, because the sign had been up all day, a CM knocked on the door and said he had to come in an look around. We didn't know about the new policy, so it was weird. Glad to find this thread to explain.

At BCV, there was no regard for requests not to be disturbed. A maintenance man came in at 9 am to fix an issue, even though my husband requested 1 pm. My girls were still asleep on the sofa bed. Our Mousekeeper also did a full cleaning at the same time we had specifically asked not to be disturbed. We scheduled a time with her, but, when we returned, she had just started working on the room. We had to nap in the Solarium. She wasn't at all polite when we showed up to enter our room while she was there. We were in the room almost every time trash pickup happened. It was a 9 day stay.

 

[Jennasis]

We've been at BLT since Saturday. Trash removed daily while we have been out and about. Have never seen hide nor hair of mousekeeping or security. A lovely stay!

 

[Boardwalk Tigger]

Even though this is supposed to be an experiences-only thread, I just want to clarify the purpose of the sign for those who are unfamiliar with this recent policy change.

Disney has removed the Do Not Disturb signs from their resorts. There are now ‘occupied’ signs available for use on your door. Use of this sign does not mean that resort staff will not knock on your door. The occupied sign is there to let staff who may be knocking know that you are in the room. Expect someone from housekeeping or security to enter your room once per day for a room check, even if you have declined housekeeping.

If you wish to discuss the room check policy, post a thread on the resorts board. Posts that are not guest experiences will be removed from this thread.

They still need to do this at a reasonable time and in a reasonable manner. They didn’t even come and take out the trash in my room for several days and now showing up in morning while we are in our pjs. I think not. If they have a reasonable suspicion about some unlawful activity in some room that’s a different matter but no one wants them coming in while you are asleep, in the shower or in the bathroom. I’m throwing the latch on when I’m in the room to assure my privacy and that of my family. They should monitor any Las Vegas concerns with hotel cameras in the hallways, staircases and parking lots etc. I have no problem with room checks as long as they don’t wake me up or interfere with my privacy or the quiet enjoyment of my room without a reasonable cause of concern.

 

[5DisneyNuts]

We stayed at the BWV on points Thanksgiving week. Thanks to the heads-up here, we went to the front desk, asked for RO signs that weren't on the door or in the room and explained that we would like the room checks between 1pm and 4pm. We are not rope droppers and will sometimes come back to the room to get ready for dinner.

Our wishes were honored and we never had an issue. Since we were on points and it was only a matter of trash removal, maybe that made it easier for the hotel to accommodate.

 

[Jennasis]

Also, our room has both a dead bolt and a security flip latch. We use both. Nobody is coming in our room unannounced. Though we've had no issues this trip.

 

[Wubar]

4th stay this year this past week at Pop. Opted out of mousekeeping each time. No issues whatsoever.

 

[Luvs Mickey]

Just came back Friday from a week long stay at AKL and never saw security. Used room occupied sign when we didn’t want to be disturbed. No issues at all.

 

[Captain Kittens]

Just got back from a week at Riverside (royal room). Opted for the "no house-keeping" in exchange for a $40 gift card which you can use immediately (they email it to you). Between Sunday when we checked in and Friday when we checked out I only got a room check twice. The first time it startled the hell out of me because I forgot all about it. I was thinking "who the hell is at my door and why are they "checking" on me"? But then my wife reminded me about the random checks. It was twice (Monday and Thursday) and it was just hotel staff, not security and I never let them in our room and just told them from the door that everything was alright which seemed to satisfy them. We never used any "room occupied" signs and our trash was never touched the entire trip until we let them take it on Thursday.

I see stories of people saying they wanted to come in the room and walk around and look behind things and inspect things sounds a little intrusive. Unless there is an actual issue reported why go looking for one? One of the best things I like about Disney World is the overwhelming feeling of being safe. When you start having security/room checks to make sure no one is up to anything shady it starts to diminish that feeling.

I understand why they are doing it. Its cheaper to give me a $40 gift card than pay someone to clean my room every day. However wanting to actually come in and look around, as someone else stated, almost makes you feel like you committed a crime and they are trying to find it. They really need to change the policy so everything can be done from the door, ie: they knock, "do you need anything, is everything alright? Yes?" on their way.

 

[Moliphino]

We just spent 8 nights at Pop with no issues. We did not decline housekeeping and our room was done every day while we were out (usually 9/10am to after 10pm). I put the room occupied sign up when we were in the room and nobody ever knocked on the door while we were there.

 

[Experiment 629]

12 nights at Pop. Declined housekeeping. In the room at different times each days. Late mornings, Mid day, Late Afternoon. Never been disturbed. We mostly had the room occupied sign on when we were in. Few times we could see someone had been in our room (curtains opened, light turned off).

 

[sls23]

We just returned from a stay in a Cascade Cabin at Copper Creek Villas. We visit a lot so this was a more resort focused stay for us so other than golfing and a few hours in the parks and dining each day we were enjoying the cabin. We did not use the room occupied sign and anyone who stopped by rang our doorbell just once and waited until we came to the door. We had someone stop by daily around 3:00 to collect our trash. They were very polite and quick. On our fourth day we had a full cleaning and they arrived as we were leaving around 10:30 AM. On our eight day we had trash and towel service and they arrived around 9:30 AM. The Cast Member always offered to come back later. On our departure day we left the room occupied sign on when we went to check our luggage and then came back to relax until 10. Although there was a housekeeping cart stationed nearby, no one knocked on our door. I called housekeeping on our way out to let them know we were leaving. We did not find any of the visits to be intrusive and all of the Cast Members were encountered were very friendly.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Had a short two night stay at OKW last week. On our first evening, we came back to the room and it was rather chilly (it was cooler outside). We called Maintenance and they said they would send someone over to check it out. They told us not to have the Room Occupied sign on the door because the person coming over would not knock or bother us in any way. We made sure to remove the sign from the door. They did knock before they came into the room, but we were expecting them.

 

[disneyseniors]

I promised I would report on our trip this December 10th thru the 19th. We stayed at POFQ. We had a bad experience with these room checks the last time which were very upsetting, in March of this year. I have written extensively on here about it.
This time, we had NO problems at all. The housekeeping manager even called to schedule a time to clean the room that suited us. I told her when, and the room was Always cleaned when we came back at the specified time. The manager told us to put the room occupied sign on the door so we did not get bothered while we were in the room. We were not bothered once!
This was a complete change in customer service from our last visit in March, 2018. Maybe the policy has been tweaked since they had so many complaints from guests? I don't know what caused the change, but it was a wonderful surprise. My husband and I were able to get our medically needed rest each afternoon without interference. We were able to relax and enjoy this visit.
I really think Disney has changed this policy to be more accommodating to the guest. We could not be more happy or pleased at the excellent treatment we got from the staff.

 

[Miffy]

Just back from 8 nights at AKL. We were in and out of the room at various times. Never disturbed at all.

 

[Madame]

At AKV-J & had to call HK for a stuck sofabed at 11:30pm on NYE. They requested we ensure the RO sign was not on the door so HK could knock

 

[Disneylover99]

We are leaving POFQ tomorrow. We’ve had about 6 or 7 room checks during our 12 day stay. They’ve ranged in time between 10:30am and 5:00pm. We have opted out of housekeeping. Sometimes our room occupied sign has been on, and sometimes not.

The first check was the funniest. My husband was asleep and my kids were on their phones with their earbuds in, so I guess they didn’t hear the knock. I had just stepped out to go to the foodcourt. The security guy came in and my kids never noticed right away because they didn’t look up when he entered. They assumed it was me walking in. My daughter looked up as the man was walking out of our washroom. She was a bit shocked.

It was someone different each room check and they all gave a different reason for entering. One was checking our washroom to see if we had enough towels, one was checking the lights - he switched them on and off then left, one was doing a fan check to see if it was working. Only one admitted he was actually doing a security check.

It’s always intrusive when someone walks through your room and into the washroom area as you’re lieing in bed.

 

[BridgetBordeaux]

I am a little late reporting here.
I was at Pop Dec 2 -8. I declined housekeeping.

On one occasion there was a knock on my door in the late afternoon/very early evening. They identified themselves as a castmember and said they were there for an inspection. I forgot the exact words they used, but I knew what this was all about. I asked for a moment to put on better clothes and let them in. They walked in all the way to the bathroom and then left. It took about 15 seconds.

If that's what it takes as my contribution to being a little safer, I can handle it.

 

[maccagerl]

On my last trip I opted for no housekeeping, and was at the parks most of the time.
One afternoon a mousekeeper knocked on the door.
When I answered she asked if I needed anything.
I said sure, as long as you’re here can you empty the trash?
I stepped back to let her in- there was a bit of an awkward silence as she just stared at me for a couple of seconds before she came in and emptied the trash.
When she left I noticed she didn’t even have a housekeeping cart with her.

I had another quite bizarre incident but will have to post it later.

 

[Disneylvr1971]

Was at Music in Dec for 2 weeks. Opted out of housekeeping. DH said 1 day someone came in and just looked around, after that we had 1 person come by and ask if everything was ok. Same gentleman almost every day. Never came in, just asked from the doorway. We just put up the do not disturb when we were sleeping.

 

[chelseabun76]

We were there for 9 nights, and didn't encounter it once! lol We were gone during the days every single day though...